How To Choose Promotional Items That Stand Out From The Competition

Suppose you want to create promotional items that set you apart from your competitors and get all eyes on your business. In that case, you need to carefully consider your strategy, assess the trends and understand your industry and its audience.

To get started, you will need to conduct some in-depth market research to establish the needs and preferences of your target audience. One great way to carry out this task is to send a questionnaire to your current client or customer database, asking them for their opinions on promotional products. This will help you understand what types of products appeal to them and are likely to be most effective for engaging new customers, which will strengthen your marketing strategy. 

You can also set out to define your audience by creating a distinct customer profile that outlines their lifestyle, interests and hobbies. For example, are they sports fans?, do they commute? And is sustainability a priority for them?

By doing this simple task, you will gain more insight into the types of promo products that will be useful and intrigue to your demographic.

This market research must then be aligned with your business goals and budget to ensure that you are investing in promotional products that will maximise return on investment (ROI) without breaking the bank. It is essential that you not only determine what promotional items will be cost-effective and attractive to your audience but how this will translate into awareness, revenue or whatever it is you are trying to achieve with this marketing campaign.

Once you have completed the above and put together a promotional product strategy, you can begin to identify which branded merchandise types will impact your business most and help you stand out from the competition.

Some examples of how to use your research and goals to inform your purchasing decisions for promotional products include:

Promotional Products For Executives and Directors

If you are trying to get the attention of business executives and want to leave them with a reminder of your business following a meeting or networking event, then you should consider custom technology.

People who work in more senior roles lead busy lifestyles, are always on the move, and are typically interested in custom technology that will make their lives easier. Therefore, branded mobile phone power banks, promotional phone desk chargers and other portable technology products are a brilliant investment for your business. 

Promotional Merchandise For Young Professionals

Alternatively, you may find that your demographic tends to be young professionals in the office or desk-based roles. In this case, printed stationery and promotional office items, such as custom notebooks, promotional desk pads, printed company coffee mugs and promotional mousemats, are an impactful way to market your business. Young professionals will find these types of promotional products practical for their day-to-day roles, meaning that any branded merchandise in this category will get a lot of use and visibility.

Promotional Products For Fitness Enthusiasts

Finally, your target audience could be highlighted as having a passion for, or interest in, fitness. Whether they’re an athlete, play team sports or regularly go to the gym, several merchandise fitness gifts would appeal to fitness enthusiasts. You could create branded reusable water bottles to keep them hydrated, printed gym bags for holding their workout essentials or sports kit, or even promotional towels.   

The Latest Merchandise Must-Haves for Your Marketing Campaigns

Another important factor to consider when choosing promotional merchandise for your business is popularity. Oftentimes, it is not only the products that align well with your target audience and your business goals that will make the biggest impression, but also those that are trending at the time. 

By conducting further research into current merchandise trends, you can assess which promotional products then match up with the strategy you have already started to build. However, the only way that incorporating trends into your promotional product strategy will be effective is if it doesn’t sacrifice your brand identity by ensuring that it is authentic to your business. 

Promotional Product Sustainability and Ethical Sourcing: How to Choose Promotional Items that Align with Your Values

The biggest merchandise trend for 2023 is sustainable promotional products made from eco-friendly materials, such as bamboo and wheat straw. Our promotional bamboo travel cups, printed wheat straw lunch box and promotional recycled notebook and pen are perfect examples of this.

With sustainability becoming a huge priority for consumers as their awareness of how their actions are negatively impacting the planet increase, many are taking active steps to reduce their carbon footprint. This means that many of your potential customers may not use or accept promotional products that are not sustainable.

It will also position your business in a positive light if you invest in sustainable branded merchandise as it shows that you take your corporate social responsibility seriously.

When making the conscious decision to take the sustainable route and select promotional items that are eco-friendly and ethically-sourced, you need to do your due diligence to avoid greenwashing and make sure that the products align with your brand’s values.

You will have to assess the materials used to make the product, of which there are many different eco-friendly merchandise options, including rPET, organic cotton and jute, as well as look into the manufacturing processes and whether the suppliers are ethical.

Our Tips on Choosing Promotional Items for Your Industry

Generally speaking, there are certain promotional products that always work well for businesses in specific sectors. When you ascertain your industry’s unique needs and challenges, you can tailor your merchandise gift selection to meet and address them. 

Some excellent merchandise examples are as follows:

Promotional Items For the Software/Technology Industry

The most obvious yet effective types of promo items for companies within this industry are custom technology, such as custom charger cables, printed USB sticks and branded phone cases. They are a great way to remind your audience of your brand and services constantly.

Promotional Items For The Healthcare Sector

Healthcare providers also have access to a category of promotional products that coincide with their industry, including printed pedometers, custom thermometers and promotional pill boxes. They offer an impactful way of merging merchandise with their services.

Promotional Products For Educational Organisations

Whether you’re a school, college, university, or a company attending a student open day, a range of printed products work well in this field. From custom-printed hoodies and promotional backpacks to promotional sports bottles and printed pop sockets, finding merchandise gifts that appeal to students is not too difficult.

Custom Products For The Hospitality Industry

Restaurants, bars, hotels and other businesses within hospitality can get creative when it comes to investing in promotional items suitable for their sector. You could design branded bottle openers, printed coasters, promotional drink stirrers, or the classic printed fridge magnets.

Printed Items For The Travel Sector

Within the travel sector there are some brilliant, best-selling promo items for your audience, such as printed eye masks, branded neck pillows and promotional overnight travel bags. 

How to Choose the Best Distribution Channels for Maximum Impact

The final step in creating promotional products that enhance your business and help you stand out is to examine different methods of distribution and which one will help you achieve maximum impact.

There are several distribution channels that businesses tend to opt for because of their proven result, low cost and ease. These methods are attending trade shows or events, sending products via direct mail and setting up online giveaways\gifting. 

Merchandise For Events

If you choose to attend events to promote your business - whether that be an exhibition, trade show, networking day, freshers fair etc. - then you should strengthen your presence with promotional products.

This distribution channel can be more expensive as you need to order at high volumes, and there is a lot of work involved as you need to get the product to the event and then physically hand them out. However, the face-to-face interaction and sheer number of people you can reach quickly make it the most popular way to issue printed merchandise.

Promotional Products For A Gift With Purchase

Some brands choose to use custom promotional products as a buying incentive or a way to drive additional revenue by offering them as a gift with purchase. This means that when a customer either buys a particular product or spends over a certain amount, they will receive a printed item as a gift. 

This is often the case for beauty brands who may offer a makeup bag to help launch a new product or activewear retailers who throw in a free promotional bottle when you spend over £100, for example.

Merchandise For Direct Mail

A more traditional distribution method is to send promo items as a direct mail gift via courier or post. Depending on the volume, weight and size of the promo products, it can incur hefty costs, so it is often best saved for letterbox-friendly gifts, such as fridge magnets and pens.

If you want to explore these promotional opportunities further, then you can speak to the experts at Merchandise Ltd for more advice, idea generation, product samples and quotations. 

We offer a stunning range of high-quality promotional items at competitive pricing with express print routes and unmatched customer service.